Mercedes expanding Alabama plant

BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Daimler AG says it is investing $350 million in its Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in an expansion that will create 400 new jobs.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in a statement Friday that by 2014 the plant will begin building the C-Class Mercedes for the North American market. It already produces the brand’s M-, GL- and R-Class SUVs.

The new investment comes atop the more-than $2 billion Daimler announced earlier this year. In total it’s putting $2.4 billion into the Tuscaloosa plant and expects to create 1,400 jobs there between 2010 and 2014.

Zetsche says “this new model from the Tuscaloosa plant is an important element of our growth strategy.”